Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 on (a) cost and (b) journey times of emergency service vehicles; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (i) battery life and (ii) the availability of charging points for electric emergency service vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government recognises the efforts already being made by emergency services to transition to zero emission vehicles. British Transport Police has committed to moving its whole car fleet to electric by 2025 and NHS England announced last year that eight ambulance trusts are trialling new zero emission vehicles.
The Government will continue to work with organisations, including the emergency services, to improve knowledge of zero emission vehicles and to give further support to the rollout of suitable charging infrastructure.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many British Transport Police officers have (a) been recruited, (b) passed probation, (c) been dismissed, (d) retired and (d) resigned in the last 12 months for which data are available.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Reason | Number of Officers |
Recruited | 315 |
Passed probation | Not available* |
Dismissed | 25 |
Retired | 80 |
Resigned | 157 |
* We are not able to provide data on the number of Police Officers that passed their probation during the same period, due to the data not being available.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many British Transport Police officers have been assaulted at work in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The latest information available is from April 2022 to 31 March 2023. In this period, 911 incidents of assaults against BTP officers at work was recorded (748 physical abuse, 163 verbal abuse).
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the number of suicides on the rail network.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department, working in partnership with the train operating companies (TOCs), Network Rail and the British Transport Police (BTP), is committed to reducing the number of deaths by suicide on the railway.
Each TOC is required to deliver a suicide prevention plan which includes the commitment to train frontline passenger staff on suicide prevention and deploying mitigation measures to prevent access to lethal means. TOCs are also required to obtain and maintain accreditation to the Safeguarding on Rail Scheme which sets out their actions in protecting vulnerable people travelling on their network.
The BTP carries out a site visit following every suspected suicide on the railway to militate against future loss of life at the same location, and has a dedicated Harm Reduction Team (Hart) who work one to one with vulnerable individuals, joining up local authorities, the NHS and others to ensure the person is cared for and prevented from taking their life on the rail network.
The Department is supportive of the Samaritans Small Talk Saves Lives campaign which is delivered in partnership with Network Rail, BTP and the wider rail industry, with both the Secretary of State and Rail Minister recently attending a campaign event.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many complaints against British Transport Police officers have been recorded in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
For the reporting period 01 April 2022 - 31 March 2023, there were 938 complaints against BTP recorded.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many British Transport Police officers were in service in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022; and how many are in service as of 27 June 2023.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Date | Number of officers |
April 2019 | 3,110 |
April 2020 | 3,179 |
April 2021 | 3,125 |
April 2022 | 3,175 |
As of 27 June 2023 | 3,184 |
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has held recent discussions with the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police on the adequacy of its officer vetting processes.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Transport Secretary and I have both recently met with the BTP Chief Constable and vetting was one of a range of issues discussed. Both my officials and the Chief Constable are aware of the importance of vetting BTP officers thoroughly and most recently met this week (27 June) to discuss this matter.
BTP also recently gave comprehensive feedback to the Home Office’s Police Officer Dismissals Review. BTP’s feedback was shared with the Transport Secretary who was supportive.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people have died by suicide on the rail network in each of the last 36 months.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There were 772 suspected suicides on the rail network (excluding London Underground, Overground, and DLR), between 1 June 2020 to 31 May 2023. The Department for Transport, Network Rail and the British Transport Police are committed to reducing the number of deaths by suicide, with each rail operator responsible for delivering a suicide prevention plan.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps police forces are taking to monitor breaches of exclusion zones relating to (a) domestic abuse and (b) other violent crimes.
Answered by Sarah Dines
This Government is committed to protecting all victims and tackling domestic abuse and violent crime.
To gain protection from domestic abuse, police can apply for a Domestic Violence Protection Order, victims can apply for a Non-Molestation Order and criminal courts can impose a Restraining Order on acquittal or conviction of a criminal offence. In cases of violent crime, police forces can apply to the court for a Criminal Behaviour Order, Gang Injunction, or Knife Crime Prevention Order which can also impose exclusion zones. Additionally, in community sentences, the court can impose electronically monitored exclusion zones. Responding to breaches is an operational matter for the police to decide upon.
The introduction of the new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Order, will help to strengthen the evidence base for pursuing and prosecuting breach of an exclusion zone in cases of domestic abuse. The new order will be piloted from next year in Gwent, Greater Manchester, the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton, and Bromley, and the British Transport Police (Domestic abusers face crackdown in raft of new measures - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).
For offenders on licence, breach of exclusion zones could result in recall by probation and arrest and return to custody by the police. Later this year, the Ministry of Justice will begin a project to test the effectiveness of electronic monitoring of additional licence conditions, including exclusion zones, for domestic abuse perpetrators released on licence.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make a comparative assessment of the amount paid in penalty charges for speeding in (a) the last year for which data are available and (b) the year preceding 1 March 2020.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Data on the amount paid in penalty charges for speeding is not held by the Home Office.
The Home Office collects and publishes data on fixed penalty notices (FPNs) and other outcomes for motoring offences in England and Wales on an annual basis. The most recent data, up to 2021, is available here:
In 2021, there were 2,378,373 speed limit offences recorded on the central PentiP system in England and Wales (excludes British Transport Police).
In 2020, there were 2,006,382 speed limit offences recorded on the central PentiP system in England and Wales (excludes British Transport Police).
In 2019, there were 2,253,948 speed limit offences recorded on the central PentiP system in England and Wales (excludes British Transport Police).
However these figures may be an underestimation since Durham, North Wales, South Wales, Gwent, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire forces do not record all outcomes on the PentiP system.
Data for 2022 will be published in November/December of 2023, and is pre-announced on gov.uk here: Police powers and procedures: Other PACE powers, England and Wales, year ending March 2023 - National statistics announcement - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)